


Intoxication

by Tyger



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, AU (complete), AU (fusion), Community: no_true_pair, Corpse Desecration, M/M, Violence, battlekink, bloodkink, knifeplay (discussion of), no actual smut, sex and nudity in public places, weaponkink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-31
Updated: 2009-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-18 22:15:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/193887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyger/pseuds/Tyger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He really shouldn't be feeling this way, Roxas is sure. Not so happy, fuckin' giddy, at the corpse-strewn alleyway, the blood all over everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Intoxication

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://asylums.insanejournal.com/no_true_pair/profile)[**no_true_pair**](http://asylums.insanejournal.com/no_true_pair/) prompt: Axel/Roxas, intoxication  
>  Set in my White Mage Roxas AU 'verse, though I haven't published anything that shows why it gets it's name as of yet. ¬¬; Anyway, it's set in an AU 'verse that is mostly but not entirely based of FFTA, thus the monsters.

        He really shouldn't be feeling this way, Roxas is sure.  Not so... happy, fuckin' _giddy_ , at the corpse-strewn alleyway, the blood all over everything.  The other guy in the alley - the really, really good looking guy he'd been fighting with.  The way the guy stares at him, as he licks his lips.  The happy little noise he makes at the taste.  The guy starts licking the blood of his fingers, too.

        He really shouldn't be feeling this way.  He's pretty sure.  He wonders if this is what it's like to be drunk.

        "Uh, hi," says the guy, flicking his odd spiky weapons back into storage, straightening from his crouched attack-mode.  Fuck, he's tall.  Damnit.  Tall and... really, really fuckin' pretty, though, all angles and black leather and blood splatter - except for his hair, which is more or less blood-coloured _anyway_ , far as he can tell in the light coming down the alley from the street.

        Roxas is staring.  Distantly, he knows that.  Even more distantly, he's pretty sure he should be saying something back.  But the guy is walking closer, and fuck, the only thing that's important anymore is pulling him down, slamming him up against a bloody wall, kissing, biting, whatever at his lips, pressing up against him, and fuck.  _Fuck_.

        If this is what it's like to be drunk, he can finally see the appeal.

-

        It's funny, the sorts of things you find when you're off duty.  You know.  The things that really _ought_ to be reported in, but you're off duty and they've been working you like a dog all month, so fuck that shit.

        Like that gorgeous little paladin-class guy from a couple of weeks back.  Only he looks like he's samurai-class now, and _damn_ , is that esoteric or _what_.  And killing monsters in back alleys again.  Axel's pretty sure he doesn't need the help, but he jumps in anyway.  Last time had turned out fun, and hell, if nothing else, just killing things and _watching_ 'll probably do wonders for his mood.

        Guy doesn't even flinch, as Axel segues in at his back, just raises an eyebrow and smirks a bit over his shoulder.  His eyes glow blue, in the darkness.  And that's kinda unusual - he has the proportions of a pure human, so either he's got the tiniest drop of other-blood generations and generations back and he's got talent and that's the only way it shows - unlikely - or well, it could always be _that_ , too.  Which is even more unlikely, but he has this kinda _feeling_ , and he really should report it, but fuck those bastards anyway.

        "So," Axel says, grinning at him while slitting a throat, setting another monster on fire, "you do this often?"

        The guy shrugs, hacking away, haloed by a spray of blood.  "How many times a week is 'often'?" he asks.

        Axel laughs, and they continue the slaughter.

-

        "So," says Axel, appearing out of the shadows like the dodgy bastard he is, and throwing an arm around his neck.  Roxas debates punching him.  Or biting him.  But he doesn't do either, because Axel keeps talking.

        "You wanna go for a drink?" he grins, bending down to get into his face.  There's still a bruise under his jaw from earlier in the week.  And he's pretty sure there'll still be healing bites on his collar.  Then again, there _always_ seem to be healing bites on his collar, lately.  Heh.

        Roxas eyes him, then eyes the alley he was about to go into. He can _hear_ the monsters.

        "Yeah, yeah, I know," says Axel, grinning at him.  "They'll still be here after, right?  Bars don't generally let you in, if you're drippin' blood'n guts, but.  And I dunno about you, but I'm shit at cleaning spells."

        "...me too," he admits.  He's shit at magic all 'round, though, so it's not like it's a surprise.  "I guess," he says, and the way Axel grins at him kind of makes up for the inconvenience.

        "This way!" he says, and guides Roxas 'round, without taking his arm off his shoulders.  It's heavy, and kinda awkward, but Roxas can't seem to find it in him to object to it that much.

        The bar they go to is one of the tiny little dingy incredibly sleezy ones, but given the area it'd only be surprising if it _wasn't_.  Roxas scowls his way into a table in a corner, while Axel goes and gets drinks.

        The thing Axel deposits in front of him is red.  Bright, bright red.  Red like blood.  And fire.  And Axel's hair.  And it has gold glitter in it.  Roxas scowls at it suspiciously.

        "What?" Axel says, grinning at him in a way that just _asks_ to be punched.  "Lemme guess, you don't drink much."

        "No," he says.  Isn't that _obvious_?

        "Too busy killing," says Axel, and he probably shouldn't sound so _pleased_ at that, but fuck it, he does, and Roxas likes that.

        "Duh," he says.  Eyes Axel's drink.  It's booze-gold, in a square glass.  Boring.  Normal.  _Without glitter_.  He's not really sure if Axel is teasing him, or trying to give him sommat nice.  Or shit.

        "C'mon," says Axel, grinning and sipping at his own drink, "it's not gonna bite you."

        "Shut up," says Roxas, and drinks it.

-

        Somehow, Axel isn't surprised when, upon seeing a manhole lift up not particularly long after hearing the death-keen on a sewer wyvern, Roxas pops out.  Covered in blood, he's guessing, by the smell, and not sewer muck, though it's really rather hard to tell, in the darkness.

        "Hey," he says from where he'd leant against a wall to watch.

        Roxas looks up and him, and grins, all teeth and sated bloodlust.  "Hey," he says.

        "You're out late.  Good night?"

        "Sure," says Roxas, walking down the alley, and not stopping even when he gets to where Axel's standing.  The _tease_.

        "Can think of a way to make it better," he says, tugging him - just a bit, just _really lightly_ , but Roxas lets him, and that's just - over to the wall, circling around so Roxas' back is to it and Axel's leaning on his front - just a little.  Just close enough to feel it.

        Roxas looks up at him sceptically, and doesn't say a thing.

        "Yeah?" he says, pressing in a bit more, running the hand that had been on his wrist up to his neck, leaning down -

        Roxas slams him 'round into the wall.  Hard.

        "I'm going home," he says, and stalks off.

        Axel, not incapable of taking the hint, doesn't follow.

-

        There is definitely, Roxas thinks, something about the glitter.  He keeps telling Axel he's got a fixation, and he's still pretty sure that's true.  Right now, though, he can kinda see why.  It _shines_ , where the light hits it.  Not much, not here, but...  He wonders what it'd look like in brighter light.  Couple of minutes later, he realises he doesn't just have to wonder.  He's not _totally_ incompetent when it comes to magic.  Just mostly.

        So he calls up light, just enough to make his fingertips glow.  And hey, wow, the glitter really _does_ light up, light reflecting and bouncing and making the rest of the drink glow like a candle in a glass.  It's really, really pretty.

        "You are so, so drunk," says Axel, grinning down at him, and wow, that's really pretty too.  He wonders what Axel would look like, covered in glitter.  Probably even _more_ pretty.  He giggles.  Yay!

        Axel raises an eyebrow at him, then _picks up his drink_ , the bastard _,_ and drinks it down.

        "H-hey!" he manages, though woah, that talking thing is kinda a lot of effort right now.

        "C'mon, lets get you home," Axel says, putting the glass down and pulling him up in one movement, pulling him close.  He's really, really warm, and Roxas leans into it.  Mmm.

        They leave the bar, and walk up the street a bit, before Axel stops, suddenly.

        "So, uh, where do you live?" he asks, looking around.

        "None've y'businsess," says Roxas.  He likes Axel, more or less, but he doesn't know him _that_ well.  He doesn't even invite his _friends_ home, and they're a lot less likely to get him into trouble just by existing.

        "Well, yeah, but I'm not just gonna like dump you in the street or nothing," says Axel, not looking at him.

        "I can walk," he says, scowling, pulling away from his nice, warm spot, and walking a few steps into the cold air to prove it.  And hell, even if he can't, he can probably _move_ home.  If he has to.  Which he might, it's getting late.

        "Huh," says Axel.  "So you can."  He smiles, an actual proper smile, leans in, and kisses him, soft and slow.  It makes Roxas' face burn, and he doesn't know why.  "Guess I'll see you 'round, then," he says, grinning a bit.

        "Yeah," Roxas says, grinning back.  He waves, and goes home.

-

        This is hot.  This is really, really hot, and he's tipsy - no one looking at him would think he's only tipsy, but fuck them, he's only had two.  It's the gorgeous blond plastered up his front that's making him act like he's so far gone drunk that it's not worth trying to get him sober, not the booze at all.  Roxas ain't drunk either, at least not as far as he knows - he'd had his drinks _then_ run into him, like he'd been maybe hoping he would.  Maybe really hoping he would.  And fuck, that's probably really not a good sign, just like him gettin' stupid like he's drunk when he's around isn't a good sign, but...

        But Roxas slams him up against walls and kisses him like he means it, touches him like he _needs_ it, needs him, and Ifrit he's so fucking gorgeous, particularly when he's been killing, all covered in blood and death and so fucking horny 'cause of it, and -

        There's really no way Axel can say no.  He's not even sure he remembers how, any more.

        But what he can say is 'more', because as hot as this is, that would be... that would just be... fuck.  Yes.

        "Wanna come back to my place?" he gasps out, from where he's being pinned to a wall.

        Roxas looks at him seriously for a second, before going back to kissing him.  But he also leans his weight off a bit, and takes _maybe_ a quarter of a step back, so Axel takes that as a go-ahead.

        And he's never been more fuckin' grateful he knows how to 'port.  Can't get into the building, too many wards up, but he can get them into the alley behind, and -

        And Roxas is clinging to him, eyes wide.

        "The fuck was that!" he says, and that's fear in his voice, and fuck.  Fuck.

        "...'port?" he tries, lookin' down at him and smiling.  It's okay, it's okay, don't freak out.  Please don't freak out.

        "It was all dark," Roxas says, eyes narrowed and suspicious.

        "Yeah," he says.  "Kinda does that.  Dark teleport and all."

        Roxas stares at him.  "You-"  He keeps clinging, but kinda leans on him more, too.  Which is kinda nice, but it's 'cause he's freaking out, so it's kinda not, and...  Axel puts a hand in his hair, and, when Roxas doesn't try'n lop it off, starts stroking.  It's one of the few times he wishes he didn't wear gloves, really.

        "Fucking warn me, next time," Roxas says into his chest, holding on tight enough to bruise, breathing kinda fast in the _not_ fun way.

        "As you say," he nods, leaning down so he can put his head onto Roxas', nibble on it a little.  Everything's _fine_.

        Takes him a little bit, but Roxas does eventually lean up, start kissin' him again.  Takes a few minutes for it to get back to what it was, but that's okay.  By that time, Axel's manoeuvred them inside, and into the lift.

        "So, your place, huh?" Roxas says, biting at his jaw.

        "Yeah," he says, smirking, though it's kinda hard for Roxas to see at that angle.

        Roxas bites him, not hard, but kinda sharp, so he looks back down at him.

        "Gonna let me fuck you?" he says, eyes bright and sharp and hot, and Axel moans, shudders.

        "Yes," he says.  "Yes, yes, yes."

-

        His phone beeps, and Roxas rolls over.  Pants are... where, exactly?  Where the noise is coming from, duh.

        Doesn't take him long to track it down, and he knows what it is anyway.  Alarm, telling him it's four in the fucking morning, and he'd better get his ass back home if he doesn't want to be missed.  And get to school on time, and all that crap.  Axel shifts, on the bed, and he turns back to sleepy green eyes.

        "Gotta go," he says, and though Axel just nods at him, he can kind of tell he's disappointed.  So once he's pulled his clothes back on, he goes back over and climbs over him, leans down and kisses him, with as much skill as he has.  Which probably isn't much, but it's not like Axel ever complains.  And he's getting better.  Practice, after all.  "We should do this again sometime," he says, and grins.

        Axel grins back, brings a hand up to pull him down again.  "Yeah, okay," he says.

        He's almost out of the room, when he remembers.  "Hey," he says, and Axel... well, he hadn't stopped _looking_ , but he starts lookin' at his _face_ again, anyway.  "You didn't like.  Port us out of the city, or shit, did you?"

        Axel laughs.  "Nah."

        "Cool," he nods.  If he's in the city, he can get back in time, no matter where it is.  He closes the door again, on Axel raising an eyebrow at him, clearly amused.  Ha, take that, you nosy bastard.

        Axel's apartment is kind of really fucking nice, he realises.  Hadn't had a good look before, but fuck, yeah, it really is.  All hardwood floors and textured paints and solid wood and leather furniture.

        The entire aura of wealth is kind of ruined by the utter mess it's in, though.  A lot of it's dusty, most of it's stuff he doesn't even recognise.  A lot of the rest of it is books.  Everywhere.  Shoved into overflowing bookshelves, stacked next to chairs and tables and just random places that don't have much stuff on them.  None of them even look particularly well-read.  It's kind of creepy, really.  Axel really isn't the kinda guy he'd peg as bookish.

        Then again, he wouldn't peg Hayner as the homey type, either, though he's good at that type of magic.  He picks his way through the crap, and is almost out the door, when he notices Axel's got up and followed him.  Bastard doesn't even need to look, to avoid all the shit everywhere.  Also, naked.  That's kind of.  Distracting.

        Axel notices him looking, and kinda leers at him.  He rolls his eyes at him, then smiles.

        "Thanks for having me over," he says, 'cause if there's one lesson in politeness that ever got drilled into his head, it's that one.  Axel stares at him, then laughs; Roxas can feel his face heat up.

        "Anytime, man," says Axel.  "Anytime."

-

        Axel leans down, and licks the blood off Roxas' nose.

        Roxas scowls at him, bats a leg away with a sword, but Axel isn't fooled - he's breathing heavy already, and Axel knows it sure as hell ain't from the _fight_.  It's only once he cleans off his blades, and puts them away, though, that he draws Axel in again.  For some reason, he never stores his weapons; always has them belted on instead.  Which is yeah, something Axel can kinda understand the paranoia behind, and it's not like he don't look fuckin' _lovely_ , visibly armed to the teeth, but sometimes - sometimes it's _really fucking annoying_.

        When he's done, Roxas pulls him in at the waist, grabs hold of his jacket in the other hand - Axel leans down, and is _definitely going to bite him_ , the _absolute tease_ , only Roxas attaches himself to his neck.  Not biting, just licking - just _cleaning the blood off him_ \- and.  Axel feels his knees go weak, and that's just _fine_ , 'cause Roxas is short enough that it's easier to kiss him if he doesn't have to bend down.

        The kiss is bloody, only it ain't either of them that's been bleeding, and that shouldn't make it better, but somehow it _does_.  Not that Axel's complaining.  Not that he's complaining at _all_.  Well.  Maybe a little bit, into Roxas' mouth, as he pulls his coat open, pushes his t-shirt up.  His gloves slide against his sides, along his stomach, and Axel can't help but lean down, taste blood and sweat and Roxas all at once, and it's just - he shudders.  His own breath started coming hard a while ago.

        A hand lands in his hair, and he looks up.  Roxas is watching him, blue eyes glowing softly, cheeks flushed and smeared with red.  His hair has strawberry-blond streaks in it.

        He smirks, leans forward to lick at Roxas' stomach again, without breaking eye contact.  The hand in his hair tightens, and he can hear Roxas breathe in, sharp.

        "You want...?" he asks, trailing off, 'cause it's not like Roxas is the only one that can be a tease.

        "Fuck.  Yes," says Roxas, head falling back, hips twitching.  Axel's smirk widens, and he wonders if he can make Roxas _beg_ -

        " _Axel_ ," says Roxas, soft and desperate, and okay, yeah, maybe that's close enough.

-

        Roxas hasn't seen Axel in a _month_ , and it's kinda been pissing him off.  

        Well.  Pissing him off a _lot_ , if he's being honest, which he usually is.  And it's not like - not like Axel has any _obligation_ to tell him anything or anything, and it's not like this is the _first_ time Axel's taken off without a word, but.  Well, he's pissed off _anyway_ , which is kinda fucking _stupid_ , but he _is_ , and.

        He needs to kill things a lot more than normal at the moment.

        When he finally, _finally_ sees him again, he's strolling down the street, like nothing's changed at all.  And hell, maybe for him it hasn't.

        Roxas grabs him, pulls him into the alley he'd just finished clearing out, slams him up against the wall, and kisses him, hard and long and with teeth.

        "Hey," says Axel when he draws back, grinning.  "Didja miss -" and phases back, through the dark, a half second before Oblivion would have cut his fucking _head_ off.

        It's not the first time they've fought, but it's the first time Roxas has been _serious_ , the first time he's _meant_ it.  Axel seems to get _that_ , at least, and fights back seriously too.

        It's probably the longest fight he's ever been in, and despite the anger, he can't help but _like_ that.  That Axel _will_ fight him and _can_ fight him and the way they move together and that it doesn't just _end_ , abruptly, before he can really _enjoy_ it.

        He manages to pin Axel on a rooftop somewhere, he doesn't even _know_ where, they've been moving so much.  He almost, _almost_ pins the bastard down with a sword in his _shoulder_ , but figures the whining won't be worth it, so he shoves Oblivion down through his shirt and into the roof itself, while bringing Oathkeeper up to his neck.

        They just freeze like that, for a moment, breathing hard.  Axel _almost_ local-ports, keeps at it, Roxas can _tell_ , but he pushes Oathkeeper against him hard enough he starts bleeding, just a _little_ , so he relaxes, slightly, lets his weapons fall out of his hands.  Looks at Roxas like he hasn't before, wary.  Roxas doesn't like that, but it's not like he can change it, so he just shoves Oathkeeper into the rooftop too, curls up just out of Axel's reach, and _glares_.

        "Well, that was _fun_ ," says Axel, sarcastic, and Roxas feels his lips twitch up at the corners.

        "Yeah," he says, after a moment, because fuck it, it _had_ been, apart from the bit where he was too mad to think straight.  He's still not thinking straight, he knows, but he's calming down a bit.  Sort of.

        Axel looks at him like he'd got hit on the head too hard and been addled - which he hasn't, he knows how that feels, and it's pretty rare he gets status'd anyway.  "The fuck's got up your nose, anyway?"

        Roxas scowls again, and looks away.  "Nothing," he says, and the worst part about it is it's _true_.  There's no _reason_ for him to be so pissed, but he is, and he can't _not_ take it out on Axel, even though that's not fair.

        "Nothing," says Axel, with a roll of his eyes.  " _Right_.  Trying to kill me over _nothing_."

        "Shut up," he says.  "I wasn't gonna _kill_ you.  Maim you, maybe, but..." angry as he is, even the _thought_ of a dead Axel fills him with horror.  Punching his face in, on the other hand...

        "Because that's _so_ much better."  Axel is mad, he can tell.  And he didn't want -

        "Do you _want_ to die?" he shoots back, more out of habit than anything else.  Axel just glares at him, and he glares back for a long second, before he looks away, down at the concrete of the roof.  "Look, I'm a moron.  It really is nothing, I just -"  Fuck, now the shaking's started.  He _hates_ the shaking.  He needs to hit something, only he's not sure he can stand, and he's pretty sure Axel's not up for it anyway.  And he can't hear any monsters nearby, so he just sits there.  Slides a hand up his face, and grips his hair hard.

        Axel's still looking at him, eyes narrowed and hard, but they're less purely hostile, he thinks.  More judging.  In some ways that's worse.  " _Yeah_ ," he says.  "Nothing.  Right."  He sits up, heedless of the way Oblivion slices through his clothes.  Roxas looks down at the concrete again, as Axel crouches in front of him.  "Sure _looks_ like nothing."  He pulls at Roxas' chin, so he looks up, scowling and defiant.  "You really think sayin' whatever it is is gonna make this _worse_?"

        "Shut _up_ ," he says, because _really_.  Axel just looks at him, though, face unreadable, and eventually, Roxas cracks.

        "Okay fine!" he says, shoving Axel back a little so he can throw up his hands.  "It's really nothing!  Just.  You disappeared, okay!  And.  _What if you got eaten by a bear or something_."  Axel blinks.  "I _told_ you I'm a moron."

        "You-" he starts.  "A _bear_?"

        "Or whatever!  You know.  Stuff."  The concrete is very.  Grey, tonight.

        Softly, Axel starts laughing.

        "Shut up," he mutters.  His face is burning and _this is all Axel's fault_.

        "So all this," says Axel, laughter still in his voice, "is because you were _worried_ about me?  You really are silly, if you -"

        "Fuck you," says Roxas, low and intense.  He doesn't have to put up with the bastard's _mockery_ , on top of everything else.

        "Yeah, all right," says Axel, after a pause.  He brings their faces together, close enough to feel body heat, but not enough to touch.

        Roxas leans forward that last little bit, kisses him softly, just once, draws back.  Axel's still looking at him seriously, but he doesn't look so _hurt_ , and that's.  That's pretty fuckin' nice.  Much better than Roxas had hoped for five minutes ago.

        He takes it as a go-ahead, pushes Axel down, mindful of his swords, and sits on him, kisses him hard.  Because it's been a while, and Roxas _wants_.

        He really, really _wants_.

-

        There are certain things Axel would pay a great deal to see.  Roxas, naked, and covered in blood is one of them.  And not just on his face, or nothing, either.  _All over_.  It gets him hard every time he thinks about it, and he thinks about it a lot more than he should.  A _lot_ more.

        He'd be so fucking beautiful, after all.  With his eyes narrow and glowing and that _grin_ , the one he always makes after he's torn through a pack of monsters that by all rights should be able to kill any sentient dead.  Blood gleaming in whatever light's around, and - swords.  He'd be wearing his swords, because it's Roxas.  Bloody and naked except for his swords and - Axel wants to see that.  Wants to see it _real bad_.

        He'd probably slam him up against a wall, leave sticky red marks wherever he touched.  They'd stick together if they stayed still in one position long enough, and it'd _hurt_ to move, like the blood was his own.  Or maybe Roxas'd push him to the ground and the blood would _drip_ down like rain only _good_ and maybe he'd lick it off him or maybe he'd just play with it.  Maybe if he was _really_ lucky he'd get to lick Roxas clean.

        "What're you thinking about?"  Roxas is looking at him like he's kinda a moron.  And okay, yeah, maybe he'd been staring off into space, but...

        "I was thinking," Axel says, leaning close, "about how _hot_ it'd be if you fought naked."

        "Wha-" says Roxas, eyes wide and shocked.  He blinks, once or twice, and then - _smiles_.  "Only if you do it too," he says, and it's consent and a challenge all in one.

        ...well _damn_.

-

        Roxas sits up, really late one Saturday night - early Sunday morning, whatever.  It's not dark, exactly - Axel's kinda a candle whore - but it's nowhere near light, either.  Hard to sleep in.

        "Y'goin'?" Axel asks, opening one eye to peer at him.

        "I.  Don't have to," he says.

        "Yeah?" says Axel, and the grin is kind of worth the uncertainty.

        "Yeah," he says, and Axel pushes himself up on one elbow, pulls him down with his free arm.

        "C'mere," he says, wrapping himself around Roxas.

        Roxas flails.  Not seriously, but - "Hey!  Bastard!  I need to breathe you know!  Get your hair out of my face!  _Damnit Axel_!"

        He finds it hard to go back to sleep - he never sleeps much anyway - but it's still kind of.  Nice.

-

        Roxas moves, flushed and sweaty, mouth turned up into a cruel grin at the corners.  Pivots on his heel, decapitates a goblin with one stroke.  It's the kind of brutal efficiency that could get him mistaken for assassin-class so very easily.  Or if not the class itself, one suited to it.

        Axel knows better.  Roxas doesn't have the subtlety of an assassin, or the flair, and he doubts he ever will - but this doesn't mean he's not a pleasure to watch.  The way he moves, calm, deliberate - and _fast_.  He gets faster the pissier he is; sometimes he can even beat _Axel_ , which is kinda fuckin' impressive.  And then there's the look on his face, when he's killing.  So intent.  Focused.  Fuckin' _euphoric_ , like right here, right now, is the only thing that matters in the world, and it's _good_.  Sometimes, when he's fighting something strong, he makes noises, with the effort.  Just little ones, but he's so quiet most of the time...  What counts as 'strong' verses Roxas is an increasingly small handful of monsters, which kinda sucks, no matter how much Axel likes his strength.  Then there's the way he looks with blood spraying out of the corpses he makes.  Haloed in it, 'till it lands on him, and he gets wetter, and wetter, 'till he _drips_.

        He's not dripping now, not yet, but the night is still very young.  There's plenty of time, and anticipation can be fun, too.

        Roxas finishes off the last one, flicks the blood off his swords - they're nice swords, _really_ nice swords, and Axel only knows of one sword-smith in the city that can make swords like that.  He wonders how many monsters he'd had to kill to pay for them - and looks up at Axel.  It's not quite a glare - it's hard, yeah, but it's more accepting than judging, and that's pretty fuckin' nice.

        "You gonna just stand there?" he asks.

        "Well," Axel drawls.  "Can't say I mind the view."

        Roxas ducks his head down, to laugh under his breath, and walks on past him.  "You coming?"

        "' _Course_ I'm coming - hey, that's a new jacket, right?"  Black leather.  Slightly too big, but it clings to him real nice.

        "Yeah."

        "It's hot.  I like."

        Roxas laughs.  "Is there anything you _don't_ perv on?"

        Axel pretends to think about it.  "Well..."

        "Figured as much," says Roxas.

-

        Duck under the claws to stab it through the chest, never mind that they rake down his back instead; two steps right and one across to strike raid the sprite with Oblivion - not Oathkeeper, it'd just heal it, and what the fuck is a sprite doing down here anyway - slash out at the other red panther trying to jump in from behind; stupid fuck, baring its throat like that is just _asking_ for it to get cut.  Catch Oblivion on its way back, take a look around, and -

        Roxas is the only thing left standing in the alley.  Fuck.

        He feels a _little_ better, blood on his blades, bodies slumped around him in death - but not too much.  Not enough.  They'd been so _weak_ , the fight'd barely even taken a minute.  Boring.

        Flicking his blades clean, and sheathing them, he wonders why he hasn't found new hunting grounds yet.  It's what he's always done in the past, when things had got too easy, but -

        But.

        He licks his fingers clean.  The blood tastes as good as ever, but it all feels... hollow.  Fake.  He's the only one left in the alley, after all.

        He wonders where Axel is.  He wonders about bears.

-

        "'ey," says Roxas, climbing up onto the barstool next to him.

        Axel looks over his shoulder at him, "Hey there, gorgeous."

        Roxas rolls his eyes.  "Don't even _start_ , man."  He flops out over the bar, and glares the barman into getting him a beer.  He actually looks tired, and given that it's not even midnight yet, that's _weird_.

        "Aww, what's the matter, pookie?" says Axel, grinning at him.

        "Didn't I say," says Roxas, pulling him down by the collar, "to not even fucking _start_?"  He's glaring at Axel, close enough that he can feel his breath, and -

        "Who says I'm starting anything?" he manages, grinning wider.

        Roxas shoves him back and snorts at him.  "You're breathing, aren't you?"

        "I might not be," he says, leaning in again.  "Maybe you should check."

        Roxas just eyes him, with this perfect little _bitch, please_ sort of expression, and fuck that's hot, but damn, he isn't just teasing, he really is pissed.  So Axel backs off just enough, and starts talking; Roxas finishes his beer, and another, and another still, and that's weird, it's not like him to drink so much.

        After the third, though, Roxas leans his face on Axel's shoulder - and that makes the words falter, just for a bit.

        "Hey, Axel," he says, not looking at him, and Axel doesn't know if he just doesn't want to face him, or actually trusts him to not rip his throat out, but -

        "Yeah?" he says, resisting the urge to ravish him.

        "Let's go kill something."

        Axel smiles.  "Sure."

-

        "Fight me," he says, lunging at Axel, feeling his mouth turn up into a grin, feeling the blood on his face start to fly off from the force.  Axel dodges back, heel crushing a charred arm under it.  He smirks back, thin and vicious, teeth just _barely_ visible.  "Sure," he says.  Even in the almost-dark, his eyes are so green.

        Roxas attacks, breathing hard.  Not 'cause he's straining himself, but just because it's so.  Axel's so.  He can't even tell where Axel's hairline starts, half the time, there's so much blood on his face.  And the way he _moves_ -  here again, there again, all crazy angles and muscle and violence - Roxas meets him blow for blow, ducks under his guard, and presses up _close_.

        Axel moans, presses back, and he's hard, Roxas can _feel_ it, and that's - that's so fucking good, it's almost - no.  No, no.  He wants to _enjoy_ it.

        He jumps back out again, blades flying.

        " _Ifrit and Phoenix_ , Roxas," growls Axel, catching them on his weapon's spikes at the last minute, "you are such a fucking _tease_."

        Roxas smirks.

-

        Axel stretches his legs out, and leans back against the wall, thoroughly debauched and loving it.  Roxas smirks at him, and, after a considering moment, sits down next to him.

        "Hey," Axel says, and leans over lazily to put one arm around his neck, run the other through his hair.

        Roxas doesn't say anything much, but he leans in a little, and that's just _fine_.

        "Hey," he says again, after some time.  Roxas makes a inquiring noise at him.  "You like marshmallows?"

        There is a very distinct silence.

        "'Cause I think," he says, taking his hand off Roxas' head and rummaging around in his pockets, "I have some - see!"  Pink and white ones, even.  The other flavours are kind of weird.

        "Do I even want to know -"

        "It's a long and boring story," he interrupts before Roxas can even ask, because it is, and would need a hell of a lot more explaining than it's worthy of.  "But anyway, I was thinking, if you like marshmallows, we could roast them!"

        "On _what_ ," says Roxas, sceptically.  The lack of faith here is _appalling_.

        "Well, I dunno," he says anyway, "how about this?"  He pulls a dead lamia over, and sets it on fire.  It stinks a bit, but it burns well enough to roast marshmallows, at least.

        Roxas _looks_ at him, one eyebrow raised.  "You're a moron."

        Axel grins at him.  "I'm a moron that has _marshmallows_."

        "A _complete_ moron."

        Axel keeps grinning.  Roxas shakes his head, and laughs.  "Yeah, all right, sure, whatever."

-

        Roxas knocks on Axel's door.  It's _weird_ , to be at the doorway without Axel there, but.  He just.  It's not like he knows if he'll be there, either; it's early, earlier than he's usually out, earlier than he's ever seen Axel, but.  But.

        The door opens slowly; one green eye looks out suspiciously over the chain.

        "Roxas?" says Axel. He's surprised, but also kind of happy.  Roxas really isn't capable of giving a damn right now, but later he'll look back and be pleased.

        Roxas doesn't say anything, isn't quite sure _what_ to say, and after a second, Axel closes the door.  Roxas can hear the chain being taken off, so he stabs the part of his heart that goes cold at that.  Axel opens the door again, leans on on the doorway and smirks.

        "Well," he says.  "This is a pleasant surprise."

        "Fight me," says Roxas.  His voice is low, and fuck, there's an edge to it.  Desperate.  Even if he is, he doesn't want to sound it - but he's always been awful at lying, and hiding things from Axel just seems stupid, anyway.

        Axel's eyes go wide, and his eyebrows almost hit his hair.  He's staring, a little.

        Roxas stares back.  He's _not_ going to beg, going to mind his manners and ask nicely.  It's already taking all his concentration to not try'n rip Axel's throat out with his bare hands, after all.

        "Yeah, okay," says Axel after a long moment.

-

        Axel stares up at Roxas, and tries to get his breathing back under control.  That'd been... that'd really been.  Well.  Probably the harshest workout he's had for _years_ , to be perfectly honest.  Even though he knew it was stupid, even at the time - it's Roxas; he's deadly, and he'd been _so furious_ , not that Axel knows why - he'd been sure he wasn't gonna get killed, so he hadn't really been fighting for his _life_.  Which is why he's in the position he's in right now, Roxas pinning him down and breathing hard too and fuck that's gorgeous and he wonders if he can get away with pulling Roxas down and kissing the hell out of him, without Roxas healing him back up again and fighting him to a standstill.  Again.  (And the fact that Roxas _can_ do that, can heal even when rage-blind - or is he rage-blind; he's acting rage-blind but then... and his status isn't set to berserk, either - can heal mid-swing, can heal so fucking _well_ for a killer at all, well.  That's really interesting but maybe it's not the time to think about it right now.)  But he hadn't been fighting for his life, just his continued good health, and yeah, maybe from the outside it would have looked life-or-death, but Axel's not an assassin for nothing.  He could've killed Roxas, if he'd had to.

        He didn't have to, though, and now, after - fuck, he doesn't know how long, an hour?  Longer?  He really, really doesn't know, time gets weird when you're fighting, even without time mages around.  Anyway, now Roxas is looking down at him, and he's not so mad anymore.  Focused, yeah, and that's probably Axel's favourite, of all his expressions, but not like he's about to stab him to death if he so much as breathes wrong.  So kissing him should be okay, right?

        Roxas beats him, though; raising a hand up to trail fingers down his face, so softly he can barely feel them.  He can't help the way his breathing falters at that, almost choking on his own air.  Roxas looks at him seriously, leans in and kisses him, just as lightly, and Axel forgets about breathing entirely.

        The next kiss is hard, and with teeth, and Axel moans, leans up into it, pulls Roxas down towards him, rough.  He doesn't know where that softness had come from, or why he _liked_ it so much, but fuck.  Not that he wasn't hard already, but.  _Fuck_.

        Roxas pulls back, and leans down to bite at Axel's neck, sharp and hot and - it's sort of ridiculous, but Axel isn't sure how much more of this he can take.  His muscles are burning from the fight, and he feels so good, and Roxas is just.  Roxas.  And that's just-

        " _Roxas_ ," he says, somehow getting enough control back to form words.  "Ifrit, Roxas, _fuck me_."

        Roxas pushes himself up from Axel's neck, and the way he looks at him probably ought to scare the shit out of him.  Blood on his teeth, eyes wide and glowing and nothing _like_ rational - it should scare the shit out of him, make him want to fight, to 'port away.

        Axel pulls him down and kisses him, instead.  'Cause if he's too turned on to speak, his mouth should still be _some_ use, yeah?

-

        After, Axel makes use of his teleport-shoes, and carries them both down to his apartment.  Normally, Roxas would protest this - violently - but he's just.  Way too fucking exhausted, right now.  Not that that usually stops him, but it's his mind that's exhausted, even more than his body.  And his body isn't at all energetic either.

        So Axel carries him down, and they lie down on the couch and doze for a while, Axel curled up around his back.  Which is still pretty weird, but he does have to admit he trusts him there, and it kind of.  Helps.

        After a while, Axel sighs, his breath wafting over Roxas' neck.  He follows it with a kiss - not really all that sexy, just.  There.  Which is also weird, but kinda nice.

        "You okay?" Axel murmurs, nose brushing Roxas' jaw.  Roxas turns around a little, in his grasp, brings a hand up to brush against his cheek, his tattoo.

        "I will be," he says, eventually.  He can even believe it, which is kind of surprising.  "Thanks."

        Axel just gives him a silly sort of half-smile, kind of... fond, he guesses.  He watches it, until he falls asleep.

-

        "You know," says Roxas, folding his arms over Axel's chest and looking down at him, "I've always wondered just how pretty you'd be, all cut up."

        Axel forgets to breathe, for a second, before his brain kicks in and reminds him that hot as that sounds, _this is Roxas_.  "Yeah?" he says, arching an eyebrow.

        "Mmm," says Roxas.

        "You don't cut me up enough already?"

        Roxas snorts at him.  "Not like _that_ ," he says.  "I mean.  You know.  In bed.  Knives or something."

        Axel is definitely ignoring how his heart races at that.  Definitely.  Because this is Roxas, after all, and, "The hell'm I supposed to know you're not gonna just _stab_ me or something?"

        Roxas scowls.  "There's nothing wrong with stabbing," he mutters.

        Axel is not surprised by this comment.  At all.  "Roxas," he says, singsong, "bleeding out is _not sexy_."

        "I wouldn't let you _bleed out_ ," says Roxas, not looking at him.  Probably because of the adorable little pouty face he's making.

        "Uh- _huh_ ," says Axel, because while he's sure Roxas means it _now_ , he knows how easy it is to get caught up in the moment.

        Roxas just looks at him, for a bit, and finally Axel sighs.  "See, baby, thing about knifeplay is you _can_ really fuck someone up.  An' yeah, sure, that's half the fun, but there _is_ a difference between sexy and painful, you know."

        "I know that!" he snaps.  "I'm not _that_ much of a moron."

        "It's not your _intelligence_ I'm questioning," says Axel, rolling his eyes.  Intelligence, bloodlust and kinks are _completely unrelated_ , after all.  And he's pretty sure Roxas is a hell of a lot smarter than he gives himself credit for, as well.  Not that this is the time for _that_ conversation.

        "...yeah, fine, whatever," Roxas says, rolling off Axel, and under the blankets.

        " _Ifrit_ ," he says, sitting up to follow him.  "You're so fuckin' difficult.  I didn't say no, okay!"

        Roxas scowls at him, though he does sit up a bit at Axel's tugging.  "'m not _difficult_."

        "Yes you are," says Axel, because it really is the truth.  "Really _touchy_.  Not that it matters," he says, before Roxas can shut him out even _more_ , "but I didn't _mean_ to offend you, okay?"

        Roxas draws himself up, and Axel figures that fuck, he really mustn't be explaining himself well enough, so, before he can get an earful, he says, "Look.  _You are the most violent guy I know_.  And that _includes_ the berserkers.  Can you blame me for being a _bit_ wary about letting you near me with knives when I'm unarmed?"

        Roxas scowls at him for a long while, before kind of deflating, and leaning on him.  "I guess," he mutters.  "I _can_ play nice, though."

        "Yeah?" says Axel, smiling a little.

        "I _can_."

        "That's a big claim!" he says, pulling the both of them back.  "You gonna back it up?"

        Roxas keeps scowling, then smirks.  "Of course."

-

        They're walking along one evening - well, night, it's after three am, but whatever - and it's.  Kind of _calm_.  For once.  Roxas can still smell blood, and sex, and yeah, if he didn't have to get home he'd probably be slamming Axel up against a wall again before too long, but right now everything's just.  Calm.  Friendly, even; Axel's not talking as much as usual, and not deliberately pissing him off when he does.  Roxas bumps against him as they walk along, and he bumps back, and they're kind of being morons, but it's really kind of-

        Roxas has been appreciating these sort of moments more and more, lately.  'specially since he realised they're one of the few times he's really _happy_ , anymore, and that led to thinking about things, and, well.  Maybe it's stupid, but.

        "Hey, Axel?" he says, looking up at him.  He's pretty sure he's not wrong, but then again...

        "Yeah?" says Axel, one eyebrow raised.

        "You want go get dinner sometime, or something?"

        Axel blinks, his eyes going wide, and looking greener than Roxas remembers, and then he shakes his head, and grins.  "You askin' me out?" he says, voice laughing in the way that means he doesn't really believe it.

        "Yep," he says, smirking.

        Axel stops in his tracks, and stares at Roxas.  "You-" he says, and seems unable to come up with any more words, just looks at him.  Like he'd grown an extra head or something.

        ...oh.  "It's fine," he says, looking away.  "Don't worry about it."  Figures.  It just _figures_.

        "...huh?  Wait!  No!  _Roxas!_ " says Axel, coming out of his shock to jump after him.  "Ifrit-!  You just surprised me, fuck," he says, pulling Roxas 'round to face him.

        Roxas just looks at him, and doesn't say anything.

        "What kind of idiot -" he shakes his head, roughly.  "Of _course_ I'll go out with you.  Moron."

        "...yeah?" says Roxas.

        Axel nods.  Roxas smiles.

-

        The sky is on fire; setting sun sending the clouds red and purple and gold.  Axel leans against a wall and waits, and while he can't help but wish the sky was _truly_ on fire, he can appreciate the way it is now.

        Roxas is late.

        Not by much, but Axel'd been early (just a little bit, just in case), and even though he knows it's fuckin' stupid, he can't help worrying.  What if he'd just been having him on (he doesn't think so, but...), what if he can't make it (but he'd let him know, right?), what if (but)...  He concentrates on the sunset instead.

        The air's that odd sort of twilight gold - warmer and thicker than other sorts of air, he's sure - by the time Roxas comes rocketing 'round the corner.

        On a skateboard.  He grinds along the edge of one of the concrete flower beds, before doing some sort of flip, and sending the board back into storage.  Axel doesn't know much about skateboards.

        "Hey," says Roxas, grinning kind of sheepishly, "sorry I'm late."

        Axel just raises an eyebrow at where the skateboard had, until recently, been.

        Roxas scowls at him.  "You got a _problem_?" he says, in his becoming, violence-is-imminent sort of way.  It looks a lot better on him than sheepish.

        "Well," says Axel, pushing himself off the wall, "it's kind of lame."

        "MY SKATEBOARD IS NOT LAME."

-

        There's a soft ripping sound, and Axel makes a small noise.  Not _hurt_ , exactly, but kind of annoyed.  That's what you get, though, when you forget to close your jacket back up again, and let the blood stick your t-shirt down.  Not that Roxas is having any better luck with his socks, but that's more inevitable than anything else.  No matter what you do, blood finds its way into your shoes eventually.

        Axel pulls his shirt up a bit more, and it keeps making that noise, leaves the skin under slightly pink.  It doesn't clash with the red-brown of the blood at _all_.

        "Axel," he says, quiet and intense.  Axel stops what he's doing, but Roxas can't see what kind of expression he has on his face.  " _Come here_."

        Axel walks the two or so steps to where Roxas is sitting on the bathroom sink, and Roxas grabs him.  One hand on a hip, the other on his ribs, and he leans down, starts licking off the blood.  Doesn't take long to run out of skin, so he starts sucking on the places the shirt is stuck down.  Tastes a bit different, but still like blood, so it's good.

        He can _feel_ Axel moan, like this.  Roxas forgets to listen, mostly, so that's.  It's really something.

        After a bit, Axel puts a hand in his hair.  Just one, just lightly - Roxas goes still, for a long moment.  Nods slightly, and goes back to what he's doing.

-

        This is all Midgar's fault.  Axel'd like to assassinate the _entire fuckin' Shinra family_ , and deal with it _that_ way, only the fallout of that is likely to just fuck things up _more_.  Public claims to the contrary aside, Shinra rules the north with an iron fist, and is enough of a war-monger _without_ giant domestic troubles to cover up... and, well.  His Majesty wants the _minimum_ number of lives lost.  That's why he keeps assassins in the first place.

        But knowing who the fuck are the pivotal points, and which of them need to live, and which of them need to die - well, that's most of Axel's job, right there.  Which most of the time is just _fine_ with him, but days - weeks - like this, and, well.  Just not going in one day seems like fun.

        He picks up his bags - he fuckin' _hates_ having to take work home - and gets out of the lift.  Wonders what he's gonna... eat?  Huh.  Roxas is sitting in front of his door.  Wow.  Glaring at him, sure, but that's not unusual, and.  And.  _Roxas_.

        Axel smiles.  "Hey, baby."  That turns the glare up a notch, which is _just fine by Axel_.  He wonders if he's gonna get walled.

        Roxas gets up in one smooth movement, stalks up to Axel, pulls him down by the collar and -

        "You look like shit," he says, glaring at him like it's a _personal insult_.

        "Do not," says Axel.  "I'm gorgeous."

        Roxas snorts.  "You look like you're gonna fall over."

        That's not entirely true - but it's not exactly false, either.  "I'm okay," says Axel.  He is.  He _knows_ his limits, and he's not _stupid_.

        Roxas rolls his eyes, starts tugging him towards the door.  "Yeah, sure."

        Axel drops it.  No point arguing about it.  "So, what brings you here?" he asks.  Not that he _minds_ , but he'd like to know.

        Roxas shrugs, looks away.  _Blushes_.  Just a little, but it's so-  "Well, you know," he says.  "Bears."

        " _Aww_ ," says Axel, wrapping his arms around him and kissing his neck.  "Not that I'm complaining," not that he's complaining _at all_ , "but you could have just called, silly."

        Roxas scowls up at him.  "I _did_.  Your phone's been off for _days_."

        Axel raises an eyebrow.  "No, it's not," he says, and digs in a pocket to get it.  Flips it open, and - dead screen.  "Huh."  When had _that_ happened?

        " _See_ ," says Roxas, under his breath.  Then, in a more normal voice, "C'mon, we going inside or what?"

        "Oh, right," says Axel, and digs for his keys.

-

        "Hello?" says Roxas, balancing his phone between his shoulder and his ear.

        "Hey baby," says Axel.  Roxas can almost _hear_ the smirk.  "What're you wearing?"

        Roxas blinks.  "Who says I'm wearing anything?" he asks.

        Suddenly all he can hear from the phone is breathing.  Loud breathing.  It makes him grin.

        "Actually," he says, "I just got out of the shower, so I'm wearing a towel."

        There's a slight pause.  "What, really?" says Axel, trying for offhand, but not _quite_ making it.  But maybe Roxas just knows him that well, too.  That wouldn't be bad.  "You're joking, right?"

        "No," says Roxas, rolling his eyes.  "You mean it _wasn't_ your perv radar going off that got you to call?"  He wouldn't be surprised if it _was_.

        " _Hey_ ," says Axel, as he arranges himself on his bed.  It should be disturbing, how quickly he's getting turned on again, only it's Axel, so it's kind of.  Not at all surprising.  "I don't have a perv radar!"

        Roxas laughs.  "Yeah, right."

        "I don't!"  He almost sounds indignant.  It's kind of cute.

        Roxas pauses, for just that little bit _too_ long, to continue that conversation, and then says, "So.  What're _you_ wearing?"

-

        It's snowing in Midgar, and Axel would like to go the fuck home right now.

        Not that snow usually bothers him - no, that's a lie.  Not that he usually _lets_ snow bother him, but, well.  It's the icing on the cake.  Straw that broke the camel's back.  All that shit.

        Not that it really should be.  Not like the job is any harder than normal - maybe if he's honest a little easier.  All that research is good for _something_ , after all.  Only reason he ever _does_ it, instead of pretending like he did for the books and doing it his own way.  And really, after all that _work_ , he should be dying to get into it, to do the thing he does _best_.

        Only it's snowing, and it really feels like the whole stupid thing ain't worth it, so he grabs some food, and holes up in his room for an evening.  Not productive, on the work side of things, but...

        After a few hours, he figures out what's wrong.  Maybe it shouldn't take him so long, but - well, he misses Roxas.  And that - missing someone, _anyone_ , that's - not something he's ever done before.  Not ever.  There's a few people he's fond of, sure, but that's not the same.  He likes it when they're around, yeah, and he'd be sad if they died, but...  It's only been what, a week?  A week since he's been up here.  And he _misses_ Roxas.  Really misses him.  Not just wishes he was here - which he does - but feels somehow _wrong_ , that he's not.  Like he's left half his soul behind, or something.

        Axel has no idea how to deal with that.

-

        "Hey," says Axel, pressing something into his hands and leaning down to kiss his jaw.  "Here.  Present for you."  As quickly as he leans in, he's gone again, two steps in front with his hands behind his head, nonchalant.  Roxas isn't fooled; he's gotta be feeling at least a _bit_ weird about it.  Neither of them are gift-giving people.

        He looks down at the object in his hand.  It's a keychain, metal.  Anodised mythril, Roxas knows the sort.  They're kind of popular, and anyway, Olette had dragged him shopping to get one for Hayner for his birthday.  (She'd been torn between the gunblade and the buster sword - both of them classics, sure, but...  In the end, he'd convinced her to go with Excalibur.  Equally famous and badass, and less likely to provoke Hayner's temper.  He'd liked it, too.)  So he knows a bit about them.

        He hasn't seen this one before, a miniature replica of one of Axel's own weapons, but they'd been looking at eastern-style swords, not.  Whatever Axel uses.  It's weird, even for assassin-class, and that's pretty much all Roxas knows.

        At the other end of the keychain are two keys.  Not decorative or anything.  Housekeys.  They're anodised too, one red and one blue, because Axel's a brat like that, and.  And.  He's pretty sure one's for Axel's door, the other for the deadbolt.

        Roxas feels his mouth go dry.

        He looks up at Axel, but he's still looking forward, pretending to not notice a thing.  He looks back down, and the keys are still there.  He clenches his fingers, and they don't disappear.  He threads his middle finger through the ring of the keychain, and closes his fist.  Not hard enough that things start to dig in, but enough that he can definitely feel them.

        Axel's still not looking back, or slowing down, so Roxas catches up those two steps, to bump into his shoulder.  Axel bumps back, but Roxas doesn't keep it going, presses his face there instead, because he _can't stop grinning_.  It's kind of embarrassing.

        "Thanks," he says, when he can manage it, and _that's_ when Axel finally looks at him.  He's not grinning, for once; instead he's _smiling_ , soft and kinda stupid looking.

        "Yeah," he says, butting their heads together lightly, as his hand snakes 'round to link their fingers together, the keys pressed up between their palms.


End file.
